Enjoy, folks...  for the next 24 hours, you can listen to my (my avatar's) rendition of my favorite song, Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence.

I think when Voki comes out in a few weeks, I'm going to start a seperate blog with just avatar song after avatar song, everyday...   

Now that we're close to the Voki launch, I've decided I need to go back to being creative with my avatars and not just working on putting together a new platform for them.

So, without further ado, for the rest of the week, I'll be singing along to some of my favorite tunes.

If you click through today, all day Tuesday, I'll be reprising Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda-Da-Vita...

Seriously, click through.  It's probably the worst rendition ever...  but it's worth a listen.  I even did the instruments... click animated me.

Often times, I find myself coming up short when it comes to being involved in other people's stuff.

I involve a lot of people in my own stuff...  650+ people have joined nextNY, but the number of nextNYers whose groups and efforts I can get involved in... well... it always makes me feel like I'm coming up a bit short.   I find myself saying, "Wow... ok, I knew you were doing something, but I didn't really have the time to see what it was."

So, today, I'm playing catch up...   My "late to the party" entry for today is on noneck Noel Hidalgo's "Luck of Seven" journey.

In his words:

"for seven months, he will traverse the seven continents, dive into the seven oceans, and attempt to visit the seven ancient wonders of the world. Using a wiki, noneck will harness the collective knowledge of the globe, and report weekly on seven topics of freedom."

Ok, if there's anyone I've ever met that I could say is a "character", Noel is definitely, one of them... but the thing that makes me have enormous respect for him about is that he strives to learn.... to learn from those who have very diverse perspectives. 

So, whatever Noel learns on his trek, I think we're all going to benefit a lot from that.  He is a connector of ideas.  I've noticed lately that a lot of people I've really enjoyed getting to know are in some way connected to him, even loosely... and so I'm wondering if maybe he's onto something.

He's raising money for his trip...  $11.11 from 700 people.  Get it now?  It's all about the 7's.   He's also leaving on 7/7/07.   

He's trying to get 200 people by March 29th... and to me, spending $11.11 to send someone off to learn from people outside of our little NYC bubble and blog and wiki and vlog it for the world seems like $11.11 well spent.   I encourage you to help him out.

Superficial, on the Olson twins:

"Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen showed up to Paris Fashion Week a couple weeks ago looking like the Children of the Corn. Are they even trying to look like people anymore? I know Parisians take their fashion seriously, so I'm a little surprised nobody took them out back and beat them to death with croissants."

Typepad Mobile 1...2...3...

Wooo...weather is warm enough to be biking again!

- Driving 80 miles an hour in the fog... I can't see EXACTLY where I'm going, but that's not going to slow me down.

- Life as a DANCE rather than a race or something similarly linear and competitive.

A while back, I posted a blurry picture of a older guy with a huge safety pin sticking out of his collar, and tried to come up with some kind of explanation for it.  I think it was one of my funniest posts ever, but maybe my humor isn't for everyone.

Well, it turns out that safety pins in clothing are now the hottest thing.

Who knew one old dude on a train could touch off a fashion phenomena?

Let's see.... there's a conga line of men who claim to have fathered Anna Nicole Smith's child.

Norbit grossed nearly three times as much as Hannibal Rising.

The Mets signed Chan Ho Park.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and recently, Flickr and Friendster told me that my ex has a new boyfriend.

Well, at least my dodgeball teams are good...  Between my two teams, we're 31-8-1 and both are in first place. 

Waiting to pick up Shaival for our 3PM meeting... This one is in the Potrero Center. mmm...pb moo'd... I'm STARVING.

We're posting a job here that includes the following line:

"An MBA is not only not required, it is frowned upon."

Last Saturday, I saw a pillow fight.   

It wasn't just any pillow fight.  It was a kick-ass, no holds (as long as there's a pillow in between) barred action packed official Pillow Fight League pillow fight.

Here are more clips of the action.  (PS.. Let me know if they're choppy for you... I was having a little problem with them at home...and what system/browser you're on.)

I took some photos as well.  My friend Allison took part in an amatuer match and won, but she was a bit worse for wear afterwards.

The whole thing was quite a lot of fun.  The girls were tough, but they were also creative, as they each had a persona invented for the fighting.   I think Allison and I agreed that Boozy Suzey was our favorite, mostly because she would cover someone's head with a pillow and just punch away.  I mean, seriously, if you can't be entertained by a bunch of girls fighting, go back to watching American Idol or that stupid Howie Mandel and his magic suitcases show.  This was real entertainment.   

I can't wait until these girls come back to New York!!

"Maybe you like the beach, maybe you don't.  Maybe you're favorite color is blue and mine is black.  Who cares.  It's really all about approach. Love is about adjectives and adverbs, not nouns and not even verbs. Blue, black, red, green, quiet, loud, jazz, fishing, scuba... it all doesn't matter.  In fact, sometimes, its better if it's different, just to make things interesting and expose the other person to new things. Run, bike, scuba, travel...  all these things can change, too.  Don't like me because I play sports, b/c if I get MS, will you no longer love me?  But happy and happily, and lovingly and openminded and sweet, thoughtful, sexual, sarcastic and selflessly...  these things are you... they're forever and they effect every moment of your life.  I want to marry an adjective and an adverb."

Just a few random things.

This guy killed two cops and was put in a leadership position in a gang, "because he put enough work in."  Now they're deciding whether or not to give him the needle.  Let's hope he doesn't get the opportunity for overtime.

Note to self.  Switch this guy's pack with a pack full of pots and pans Bugs Bunny style.  Idiot.

This man kills puppies.  Note to self: Organize pitbull and rotweiler puppy Meetup at his apartment.

Sort of reminds me of the line in U-turn...

""Forty thousand people die every day. Why can't you be one of them?"

Bizzare sign

  So I turn on the history channel the other day and Robocop is talking about the Roman Empire.

So bizzare. 

It turns out that, according to the Daily News, " Weller, 58, who holds a master's degree in Roman and Renaissance art and is working toward a Ph.D., has become one of Syracuse University's most popular professors."

You know what he says at the end of each class?

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Josh sent me an e-mail today...   

Check this girl out - she's perfect for you...

http://www.yourperfectgirl.com/default.html?playlist=161_161_93_51_15_343

Ladies and gentlemen, the search is over.

I knew in all those RSS subs, there had to be someone like this...    :)

Make your own at www.yourperfectgirl.com.

Did you know there was a Guinness record for riding the whole NYC subway system... stopping at all 468 stations?   Well, 6 guys from Regis High School in New York City did, and they smashed that record by an hour and a half, doing it in just under 25 hours. 

I told my friend about it and she said, "That's such a Regis guy thing to do."  If you know any of us, you'd have to agree.  :)

Nice work Bill Amarosa, Brooklyn's own Brian Brockmeyer, Stefan Karpinski, Andrew Wier, Jason Laska and Michael Boyle!

One thing I haven't meantioned a lot is that I like to play pool.  I tend to play at Amsterdamn on the Upper West Side or Slate on 21st.  I'm a bit streaky, but I can hold my own.  Perhaps nextNY should do a pool tourney sometime.. 

I found this on College Humor: